


'I Told Myself I Wouldn't Kiss You Tonight'

by simplygrimly



Series: I Love Yoo Short Stories - Cliche Writing Prompts [1]
Category: I Love Yoo (Webcomic)
Genre: Cliche, Emotional Kiss, F/M, French Kissing, Long lost love, Reuniting, Summer storm, Tumblr Prompt, kissing in rain, tongue kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23244715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplygrimly/pseuds/simplygrimly
Summary: Yeong-Gi returns after having been away for a few years, and the first person he seeks out is Shin-Ae. He joins her for a late night walk in the park, but they find it impossible to ignore their feelings for long.
Relationships: Hirahara "Nol" Yeong-Gi/Yoo Shin-Ae
Series: I Love Yoo Short Stories - Cliche Writing Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671310
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	'I Told Myself I Wouldn't Kiss You Tonight'

**Author's Note:**

> THIS PIECE IS WRITTEN ROUGHLY FIVE YEARS AFTER THE CURRENT CANON TIMELINE - ALL CHARACTERS ARE ADULTS.

Shin-Ae closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the summer breeze was filled with the light aromas of the night blooming flowers and wet soil after the light rain. The night was still, peaceful and quiet as the sounds of the city faded in the moment of tranquility. She felt her lips curve in a soft smile, the stress of her day falling away from her thoughts as she focused on enjoying the moment. 

“What are you smiling at?”

Shin-Ae’s eyes snapped open in surprise at the sound of his voice, she could hear the smile in his tone and knew that the familiar sparkle would be present in his eyes before her vision adjusted. Yeong-Gi’s emerald eyes looked down at her, full of curiosity and subtle affection. 

“Nothing,” Shin-Ae quickly responded, thankful for the dark as she felt her cheeks flush under his gaze. “What are you doing here?”

Yeong-Gi shrugged and looked around, staring off into the distance as if searching for something. “I’ve always enjoyed walking in the park during the rain. I wasn’t ready to go home yet so I thought I would do another lap,” he looked back down at her, his brows furrowing slightly, “and here you are.” 

Shin-Ae nodded slowly, her mind trying to recover from the surprise of his sudden appearance. “I thought a walk would help clear my head. There just seems to be so much going on lately.” 

Yeong-Gi stood for a moment, his gaze moving across the park around them before coming back to Shin-Ae. He caught the way her brows furrowed ever so slightly, a tiny line forming in her delicate features. He could feel her avoiding his gaze, the air around them growing dense with unspoken words and unacknowledged emotions. 

“Can I walk with you?” 

She looked up at him, her mahogany gaze seeming to pierce the armor that he had so expertly built around himself, his chest tightening as her eyes seemed to search him for something. Finally, after what seemed like the longest moment of his life, she nodded and started walking down the path, pausing to look over her shoulder when he didn’t immediately follow. He took a deep breath before falling into step with her, forcing himself to maintain a casual stride as he tried to identify the feeling swelling in his chest. 

They walked slowly, side by side in silent companionship, both lost in their own thoughts as they cast sly glances at one another. Both felt overcome with a shyness that they hadn’t experienced before, making it difficult for them to carry on the casual conversation that usually flowed so easily. Their easy friendship suddenly felt foreign, the soft sounds of the evening casting an intimate shadow over them that neither were prepared for. 

Shin-Ae peeked at him from the corner of her eye, careful not to catch his attention as she studied his face. She had never noticed the sharp contours of his jaw line, the faint flush in his olive skin, the soft lines of his mouth… She found her eyes moving over his lips more than once, as if she couldn’t stop herself from tracing the outline before looking away from him. It didn’t matter that she had just looked at him, that the gentle curve of his smile hadn’t changed; she was simply entranced by the sudden need to know if they felt as soft as they looked.

She let out a heavy sigh as she tried to force the thought from her mind. They had been through so much in the years that they had known each other, they had come apart and helped put each other back together, they had lost track of each other and somehow found their way back together again and again. She stopped and looked up at Yeong-Gi as she waited for him to turn around, knowing that it wouldn’t take him long to notice that she was no longer walking beside him. 

He took a few steps before he stopped and turned to look at her with a puzzled face. “Are you okay?”

She stared up at him for a long moment, the intensity between them sparking in the air like electricity. “Why are you really here, Yeong-Gi?” Her words hung between them, a potent haze that blurred their vision and left them unsure of how to proceed. 

Yeong-Gi forced himself to smile wider, trying to hide behind the charm that had worked so well for him in the past. “Like I said, it was a nice night for a walk.” 

Shin-Ae shook her head at him, unable to let go of the nagging feeling that he was lying. “Please don’t lie to me, not again.”

His smile faded as her words hit him and he saw the vulnerability that was written subtly in her features as she stared at him, waiting for the answer that she suddenly seemed to desperately need. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground, setting his jaw as he tried to find the best way to answer her. “I heard that you like to walk here at night sometimes. I thought I would come and walk with you.” 

Her eyes burned as unshed tears pooled beneath the surface, Shin-Ae took a deep breath as she fought to keep the emotions below the surface as she stared at him. He had been gone for so long, and yet suddenly here he was. He had reappeared in her life with no warning, and his charming smile suddenly took over her thoughts again as if he had never left, as if they hadn’t spent years separated by thousands of miles and a whole ocean. “Why?” She could hear the strain in her voice and was sure he heard it as well, he had always been quick to pick up on the emotions that she tried to hide from him. 

He forced a boyish grin, trying to lighten the mood as he watched her emotions building just under the surface. “I can’t just want to walk with a friend anymore?”

“No.” Her sudden answer stunned them both, but the hurt was spilling into her voice and she could feel the sting at the back of her eyes as the tears threatened to fall. 

“No?” 

“No,” she said quietly, “because I never wanted to be just a friend, Yeong-Gi. I wanted to be more than that, and then _you left_ and I didn’t hear a word from you for _years_ . I moved on and got my life started and now here you are, wanting to walk with me like we’re old friends, like nothing changed - _like you never left me behind_.” 

Nol’s chest tightened as her voice cracked, the pain and sadness that she had been hiding suddenly spilling into the warm summer night. He closed the distance between them in a few quick strides, suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to comfort her as the first tear slipped down her cheek. “Shin-Ae,” he said quietly as he gently brushed the tear from her cheek. She looked up at him, her bright eyes wide and glistening with tears. “I never wanted - I never meant to leave you behind. I just...I had to leave before I lost myself.” He cupped her cheek with his hand, softly cradling her face as he stared intently into her eyes. “I didn’t think anyone would care -”

“Of course I cared!” Her lip quivered as she looked up at him, watching the regret and sadness play across his features. She couldn’t help but feel like he looked so much older, like his face showed signs of exhaustion that she didn’t remember being there before. “Yeong-Gi,” she said quietly as she slightly turned her cheek into his hand, “how could I not care?” 

He shook his head slightly, trying to the right words to explain himself as he struggled to soothe the wounds that were clearly still so painful for her. “I’m sorry…” His apology was soft and poignant, the sincerity in his tone instantly calming Shin-Ae. 

She bit her bottom lip, pulling it between her teeth as she struggled to keep from throwing herself into his arms. A light breeze moved around them, stirring the air and filling Shin-Ae’s senses with the scent she hadn’t ever forgotten - he still smelled like a mix of fresh soap and subtle cologne, a light musk that lingered at the forefront of her mind. She reached out and curled her fingers in the front of his t-shirt, pulling him closer before she could stop herself. 

Yeong-Gi responded instantly, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame as he pulled her to his chest. He closed his eyes as she turned her face to his chest and buried a choked sob in the safety of his embrace, the soft shaking of her shoulders as she cried against him bringing waves of guilt to the surface of Yeong-Gi’s mind. He shushed her gently, running his fingers through her hair in an effort to give her even a tiny moment of comfort as he held her tightly to his chest. 

“Why did you come back?” Her voice was muffled by his body but his attention was zeroed in on her small voice, listening intently as she finally forced the thoughts that had been weighing so heavily on her mind to the surface. “Things were fine here, we were all good and adjusted and finally moved on after you disappeared. Why did you just show back up like this? You just barged in on my life all over again, just like when we first met.” She looked up at him, her eyes filled with an intense vulnerability that tightened the coil in his stomach and pulled at his need to finally be completely honest with her. 

Yeong-Gi felt his facade slip and he gave in to the instinct that he had been fighting. He abandoned the charming smile, the humor that covered his anxiety and fear, and the mask slipped from his face. Shin-Ae saw the pain etched in his face, she saw the need for intimacy that she had only ever seen in tiny glimpses, and she saw the intensity of his emotions glittering in his vivid green eyes. 

She pulled in a quick breath as he moved his hands to cup the sides of her face, his fingers wrapping around the back of her neck as he gave in to his instinctive need and pulled her face to his. Their lips met in a hard kiss that was filled with desperation and urgency, Yeong-Gi no longer asking but _taking_ what he had needed from her for so long. She gripped the front of his shirt tighter, her fingers curling into the fabric as if she were holding on to him for dear life, afraid that she would fall into the abyss of his kiss if she let go. She softened against him, her body melting into his as she opened her mouth to his, inviting him deeper into the moment as her thoughts went silent and her body begged for more. She splayed her fingers across his chest and slowly slid her hands up his shoulders and over his neck, feeling the slightly raised lines of his tattoo before she dug her fingers into his hair. 

Yeong-Gi’s tongue swept across hers, intimately begging for forgiveness as he savored the moment that he had yearned for so often over the years away from her. A small sound of forgiveness and acceptance slipped from Shin-Ae’s mouth, immediately swallowed by his kiss. His fingers flexed at the back of her neck, his desperation still evident as he clung to her. She took the last, small step closer to him, pressing her body to his as she lightly ran her nails over his scalp, molding her body to his as he bent to meet her lips. 

Lost in their passion, they didn’t notice the thunder rolling across the summer breeze, they didn’t see the lightning splitting the sky as the air grew heavy and cold around them. It wasn’t until the clouds opened up and rain was pouring over them that Yeong-Gi and Shin-Ae broke their kiss. They stood for a moment, staring at each other as their chests heaved with heavy breaths, each searching the other for a sign of what to do next. 

“I - I didn’t think it was going to rain again,” Shin-Ae stumbled as she stared at him. Yeong-Gi smiled, his lips involuntarily curving in a genuine display of happiness that looked nothing like the forced smiles that she had seen for so long. He rested his hands tenderly on her shoulders as he started to laugh, his fingers intimately caressing her throat as she watched him with a bewildered expression. The rain came down harder, as if the sky were determined to drench them as quickly as possible. “Why are you laughing?” She yelled over the pouring rain, struggling to be heard over the sudden intensity of the summer storm. 

He stopped and closed his eyes, turning his face to the sky as the rain fell freely on his face. She watched rivulets of water flow down his checks and over the muscles of his neck, suddenly aware of the urge to kiss every line she could find on his body. He looked back at her, still smiling, and ran his thumb over her bottom lip with a featherlight touch. “I told myself I wasn’t going to kiss you tonight,” he said with a happy chuckle. “I can’t even keep a promise to myself.” 

Shin-Ae smiled, unable to resist the charm of his boyish grin and she gently touched her palm to his cheek, “that’s one promise I won’t begrudge you breaking.” 


End file.
